"We expect the market to continue its positive performance
and maintain above the 8,000 points level mainly driven by the
positive sentiment and the new liquidity channelled to the
market," said Fouad Darwish, head of brokerage at Global
Investment House. The index closed at 8,126 points.

In Saudi Arabia, shares in developer Dar Al Arkan
halted two sessions of sharp gains after the firm said in a
bourse statement it would not be paying a dividend for 2012 as
it looks to fund business growth. The stock fell 6.3 percent.

The kingdom's benchmark climbed 0.1 percent, up for
a fourth-straight session to hit a fresh one-year high.

"I'm waiting to see if the positive momentum will continue -
there aren't huge risks in the market right now but there also
aren't huge rewards," said Faisal Al-Othman, portfolio manager
at Riyadh-based Arab National Bank. "Sectors relying on local
demand will be outperformers this year."

In the United Arab Emirates, profit-taking slowed the recent
rally on the two main bourses.

Turnover has surged on the two markets as fresh cash is
chasing gains following a sentiment revival in the property and
banking sectors.

"Foreign interest has been holding up markets but there is
heavy retail buying now," said Amer Khan, fund manager at Shuaa
Asset Management. "I wouldn't speculate where the money is
coming from - this is a rich country."

Elsewhere, Qatar's measure gained 0.6 percent after
breaching 9,000 points for the first time since January 2011 in
the previous session.